30 Years' War

30 Years’ War for PC is a turn-based strategy game, taking place during the Thirty Years’ War – a 17th century religious conflict that had a serious influence on the whole Europe. The title was released by Matrix Games/Slitherine – a publishing duo popular among strategy game fans – while the game itself was developed by The Headquarter – a Spanish studio that debuted in 2012 with a popular modification for Revolution Under Siege, re-released a year later as a standalone product called Espana 1936.

Plot

The game focuses around the Thirty Years’ War - one of the darkest periods in Europe’s history. The conflict, known for its prolonged duration (1618 – 1648), saw clashes between Protestant countries of the Holy Roman Empire, supported by other European countries (such as Sweden, Denmark, France, Scotland, or England) against the supporters of Catholic Habsburg dynasty. Even if the religious matters were acknowledged as the casus belli, the common desire of the European countries to weaken the Habsburg dynasty also played its part – practically all European states took part in the conflict. 30 Years’ War allows us to join either Protestants or Catholics, and take part in the struggle for dominance over The Old Continent, reliving the crucial moments of the conflict.

Mechanics

30 Years’ War is a complex, old-school strategy game, employing WEGO – a simultaneous turn system. The regiment is the lowest denominator, while one turn equals a month in real time. The map, separated into 4.600 regions, encompasses the whole Europe – from the western coasts up to the Volga River. The developers prepared three tutorials, and 5 complex scenarios, recreating key moments from the conflict.

A huge emphasis had been placed on recreating the feel of 17th century Europe, and the era’s influence on conducting warfare. Aside from battles, we conscript armies, and control economy and diplomacy of our nation. For greater immersion, the developers introduced over 80 historical leaders along with their characteristic traits, as well as over 160 unit types, including not only infantry or cavalry, but also heavy artillery and powerful warships. The combat system is traditionally very complex, with tons of factors determining the course of a battle, such as weather, shape of the battlefield, troops’ morale and their composition, captives, or so called “fog of war”. The whole system is further expanded through a functional cards system (known from studio’s previous games), which clever employment can change the course of more than one battle.

Game Modes

30 Years’ War for PC sports a set of modes characteristic for Slitherine strategy games. As a result, the individual scenarios can be played individually, by facing the AI, or you can challenge a human adversary through PBEM (play-by-email) system.

Technical Aspects

30 Years’ War employs an acknowledged Adaptive Game Engine (AGE), created for this narrow genre by a seasoned French studio AGEOD, and used in countless titles with similar mechanics. The interface and visuals (map style, unit icons, etc.) had been designed in a characteristic, 17th century style.

Last updated on November 21, 2016